The Coincidenc3

If you know Scarne’s Triple Coincidence from The Stars of Magic, you know this effect — the spectator and the magician exchange cards three times from decks with contrasting backs and the cards are revealed to match.

Well done, Conidicenc3 appears freer and cleaner, but at a cost. The deck is gaffed using my least favorite card gimmickry (potential reliability problems) and the handling requires conscientious practice to achieve a feeling and appearance of normalcy. Though this version will confuse, if not fool, magicians, the Scarne version, even with its presentational limitations, sacrifices little to achieve the same effect. My untested hypothesis here is that the Scarne version would create the same sense of awe for the lay spectator as Coincidenc3 with the advantages of ease of handling and ungimmicked decks.

The instructional video is not downloadable. The instruction is in non-native English and the presentation is unscripted, with all that that connotes. When I saw what I was getting into, I took bullet-pointed notes and learned from them rather than the potentially confusing video.

For me, Coincidenc3 is a triumph of method over effect. The application of the gimmickry is imaginative and clever, but for me, the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.

There’s a lot of VERY clever magic out there these days that gilds already resplendent lilies. This, though far from the most flagrant example, is one of them. Coincidenc3 is a convincing version of a great classic effect. I won’t be doing this for the laity, but I’ll work on it as a study in creative thinking. Not my thing, but it might well be yours.